Mobile communication devices are often used to communicate via several different media. For example, a smart phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) having wireless communication capabilities may be used to participate in cellular telephone conversations, to exchange email, to exchange SMS or multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages, to participate in IM or other conversational type message exchanges, to post or receive social networking updates, etc.
Typically, each communication medium comprises a separate application and protocol to enable a user to communicate via that medium. Therefore, to switch between, for example, an SMS chat and an IM chat requires the user to switch between different application interfaces. Not only can this create a segregation of contacts within a mobile device's address book, it can be difficult to remember which contacts can be communicated with via which medium/media. Moreover, the ability to communicate via several media lends itself to participating in multiple communication exchanges simultaneously. As such, having to switch between separate applications in order to carry on several communication exchanges can be an impediment to the usability of the mobile communication device.